3–2–1 Design · Issue 82
Holding More Than One Feeling
It is only a few days into the Chinese New Year.
Not a full week.
Just enough time for things to feel slightly different, or exactly the same.
Not a full week.
Just enough time for things to feel slightly different, or exactly the same.
3 Thoughts From Me
I.
You might have expected to feel clearer by now.
Or lighter.
Or newly certain.
Instead, you may feel much as you did before.
A mix of hope and fatigue.
A sense of beginning and the weight of what has not changed.
That is more common than people admit.
II.
There can be pressure at the start of anything.
A new year.
A new project.
A new promise to yourself.
You are meant to feel focused.
Grateful.
Ready.
But often what sits there is doubt beside intention.
Energy beside hesitation.
Most people carry both quietly.
III.
Not everything inside you needs to be settled straight away.
Some feelings can sit beside each other.
Hope next to doubt.
Calm next to restlessness.
Nothing cancelling the other out.
You may not feel resolved.
Just human, and layered.
2 Quotes From Others
I.
On contradiction
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.”
(Poem, 1855)
It steadies something in me to remember that complexity is part of being human.
II.
On patience
“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.”
(Essay, 1860)
There is relief in remembering that not everything has to settle immediately.
1 Question For You
At the start of this new year, what two feelings have been sitting side by side in you?
With thanks,
David
David
P.S. Beginnings do not always feel like beginnings. That does not mean you are behind.
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Thank you for reading.
— Dm
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